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East County Fire parcel tax vote called off after ballots sent out
Put y ou & list r ‘sticky n en to ote’ Call C the phon here er la 925- yton Pionee ing. r 672
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September 12, 2014
925.672.0500
Silver Oaks Estates clears first hurdle with conditional OK on environmental study TAMARA STEINER
Clayton Pioneer
Bad data leads to wrong assessments
Silver Oaks Estates, a 59unit residential development proposed by Clyde Miles Construction/A.D. Seeno Company for the 14-acre Yolanda Estate, also known locally as the Hurd Ranch, has been given an environmental clean bill of health by the city of Clayton provided certain conditions are met. The property runs along Oakhurst Blvd. between the golf course and Lydia Lane Park. The development, consisting of 52 two- and three-story condo town homes and seven single family homes received a Mitigated Negative Declaration in compliance with the California Environmental
TAMARA STEINER
Clayton Pioneer
East Contra Costa Fire must reissue some 44,000 ballots already mailed to East County property owners for a special election to fund fire service because the assessments were calculated incorrectly, Fire Chief Hugh Henderson announced last week. The assessments were based on faulty and incomplete data received from two county agencies. According to East County Fire board member Stephen Smith, the data received from Contra Costa County Fire did not include correct placement of fire hydrants for an estimated 3,000 parcels across the district. Nor was the data from the Contra Costa County Global Information Systems (GIS) office
See Parcel Tax page 8
Clayton Pioneer goes monthly with this issue Beginning with this Sept. 12 issue, the Clayton Pioneer goes to a monthly publication schedule. Readers will continue to receive the paper in their mailboxes. Publication dates for the rest of the year are Oct. 10, Nov. 7 and Dec. 12. Please see the website for a schedule of deadlines. On Sept. 26, the brand new Concord Pioneer debuts with free home delivery to 28,000 residents in Concord.
ON SEPT. 23,
57-UNIT SILVER OAKS RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT planned for the old Yolanda Estate/Hurd Ranch in Clayton will go to the Planning Commission for public comment on the environmental of the project. THE
Courtesy of the city of Clayton
See Silver Oaks, page 8
Are YOU prepared for the next big quake? Many take disaster preparedness more seriously after Napa shaker PEGGY SPEAR Clayton Pioneer
When the 6.0 Napa Earthquake rumbled through northern California on Aug. 24, it woke up more than scared Bay Area residents. It also jarred awake those sometimes buried fears of, “Am I prepared?” For many Clayton and Con-
cord residents, sadly, the answer is “No.” “We aren’t ready for a major disaster,” says Herb Yonge, and he should know. As Operations Director for Clayton’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), he helps out first-hand in local emergencies, as well as trains residents in disaster preparedness, CPR and other lifesaving activities. CERT was established in Clayton in 2006, offering two to three trainings each year since then. Currently there are 175 trained CERT members in the city of Clayton.
Break out the lederhosen– it’s that time of year again GARY CARR Special to the Pioneer
It’s fall, so that means Clayton’s gala Oktoberfest returns for its 11th year of Bier, Wurst and joyful Gemütlichkeit. The festivities take over Main Street in downtown Clayton from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 5. Back for their 11th year is the ever-popular little German band, The Internationals, “the guys who put the Oom in ‘Oom-pah.’” “The Internationals are one of the premier Oktoberfest THE INTERNATIONALS WILL BE BACK for the 11th time at the annual CBCA Clayton Oktoberfest, Oct. 4 and 5.
See Oktoberfest, pg 8
What’s Inside Around Town . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Behind the Badge . . . . . . . . .9 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Community Calendar . . . . .14
Design & Décor . . . . . . . . . .18 Directory of Advertisers . . . . .5 DVMS Correspondent . . . . .12 Estate Planning . . . . . . . . . . .9
But lately, Yonge has seen the number of residents volunteering to become certified dwindle. In addition, he suspects that only between 5 and 10 percent of the local population is truly prepared to withstand disasters. Rich Veal, a Clayton CERT instructor, agrees. But in a strange way, the Napa quake was fortuitous, because both men suspect there will be an uptick in the number of residents seeking to become prepared. After CCCFPD Station 11 closed in Clayton last year, more than 30 residents came out for hands-free CPR and AED atraining, Yonge said.
See Disaster Prep, pg 7
ALFIE BONDOC AND MELANIE ASLIN, a Registered Nurse from Contra Costa County Health Services, give an unidentified participant CPR instruction at the Concord Safety Fair Sept. 3 in Todos Santos Plaza.
Charter school board turmoil boils over with report findings JAY BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
The end of the last school year was anything but “normal” at Clayton Valley Charter High School with a controversy that ultimately led to the termination of administrator and governing board member Pat Middendorf. Heated public meetings, allegations against executive director Dave Linzey and charges flying over the internet were followed by the Food for Thought . . . . . . . .17 Garden Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Mayor’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . .3 Obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Performing Arts . . . . . . . . . .15 Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
summer break and a successful start to this school year. Then last week all the wounds were reopened with the announcement that findings from Oracle Investigations Group exonerated Linzey and led to the Sept. 5 resignation of board chairperson Tom Branich over his role in the issues last school year. In some respects those two matters took a back seat to the board’s actions regarding teacher and board member Police Report . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Sports Shorts . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Teen Reads . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Voyage of the Eagle . . . . . .12
Amber Lineweaver. The Oracle findings made “material allegations against Lineweaver” which prompted the non-conflicted members of the board (newlyelected chairman Ted Meriam, past chairperson Megan Kommer, retired teacher Dick Ellis and parent member April Winship) after a special closed board meeting Sept. 2 to call on her to “immediately resign.” Once Lineweaver refused
See CVCHS turmoil, pg 4
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